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Nations & Places

1490 entities tracked across Lowdown briefings. Page 19 of 25.

Southern Lebanese town; site of 1996 and 2006 Israeli strikes killing over 130 civilians, invoked in every Lebanon conflict.

Qasmiyeh Bridge

Coastal bridge in southern Lebanon destroyed by Israel to seal the invasion corridor.

Gulf state hosting CENTCOM; world's third-largest gas reserves; mediating Iran talks while absorbing Iranian strikes on Ras Laffan.

Southern Lebanese village hosting a UNIFIL base struck in March 2026.

Iran's largest island, IRGC naval hub and free trade zone in the Strait of Hormuz.

Qezel Hesar Prison

Iranian prison in Karaj; site of multiple protest-era executions carried out under war-period internet blackout.

Iran's holiest Shia city; seat of the Assembly of Experts and world's largest seminary network.

Iranian prison in Qom; site of secret political executions under ceasefire cover in 2026.

Canada's largest province by area, French-speaking, with power almost entirely from hydroelectricity.

Central Mexican state.

Wisconsin city in Racine County, host to Microsoft's $3.3bn Mount Pleasant data centre.

Southernmost Gaza city, now cited as the model for Israeli demolition operations in Lebanon.

Ministry of Defence airbase in Gloucestershire, the US Air Force's European bomber forward operating location.

RAF LakenheathUK airbase hosting US F-15E and A-10 squadrons flying missions over Iran.

Rai-Oleksandrivka

Village in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Ramat David Airbase

Israeli Air Force base in the Jezreel Valley, northern Israel

Israeli city in the Tel Aviv District, now a target in Iran's missile campaign.

Airport in southern Israel used partly for US refuelling aircraft deployed during the Iran conflict.

UAE's northernmost emirate; Iran threatened crushing strikes and seized its islands in 1971.

Capital of Gilan province in northern Iran; site of a Gilak prisoner's execution on 5 May 2026.

Ras Laffan Industrial City

Qatar's principal LNG export hub, operating below pre-war capacity after 2026 strikes.

Omani coastal point where the Caroline Bezengi oil slick has reached a 40km strip.

The world's largest offshore oil loading terminal, operated by Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistani garrison city in Punjab, twin to Islamabad, home of the army's headquarters

East London borough targeted by Your Party for the May 2026 local elections.

Strategic shipping lane between Africa and Arabia; Bab al-Mandeb is a critical world-trade chokepoint.

Region 4409Active solar sunspot region carrying a 20% daily X-class flare risk during the Artemis II flyby.

Germany's largest gas storage site; pore reservoir in Lower Saxony under reduced 45% target.

Reigate and Banstead

English borough council in Surrey.

Reiner GammaBright lunar swirl on Oceanus Procellarum; origin unknown, linked to magnetic anomaly.

Nevada city; emerging US data-centre hub; voted June 2026 on extending a permit pause for new campuses.

Petrobras refinery at Paulínia, São Paulo state, and its grid substation.

Republic of Congo

Central African nation with Atlantic coast reporting mpox clade Ib.

Smallest US state by area; Democratic-controlled state government and congressional delegation.

Central Italian town in Lazio; hosted the 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships

Rio Grande do Sul

Brazilian state bordering Argentina and Uruguay; capital Porto Alegre, the country's largest wine producer.

Israel's fourth-largest city; an early Zionist settlement now struck by Iranian cluster munitions.

Riverside County

Southern California county east of Los Angeles; the state's fourth most populous.

Coastal tourism region in Quintana Roo, extending from Puerto Morelos towards Tulum.

City in north-western Ukraine, administrative centre of Rivne Oblast.

Saudi Arabia's capital and seat of government, around 350 kilometres from the Persian Gulf.

Roman Bank and Peckover

Cambridgeshire ward; seat vacated after Reform councillor Andy Osborn's Section 106 conviction.

Southeastern European NATO and EU member state bordering Ukraine, hosting missile defence infrastructure on the alliance's eastern flank.

Capital of Italy and Vatican City's host; FIGC elected Giovanni Malagò president in June.

Rosebank oil field

Undeveloped oil field west of Shetland, operated by Equinor with Ithaca Energy.

Russian border region adjacent to eastern Ukraine; site of repeated friendly fire and drone incidents.

Europe's largest port; NWE crude and products benchmark hub; BP's second refinery unit still dark.

Ruchyi oil depot

Oil depot in the St Petersburg area.

Nuclear-armed state waging full-scale war on Ukraine; permanent UN Security Council member with energy leverage.

Ituri health zone; one of three with confirmed Bundibugyo ebolavirus transmission in May 2026.

East African landlocked nation reporting mpox clade Ib transmission.

Russian regional capital south-east of Moscow, home to Rosneft's Ryazan oil refinery.

Capital of California, USA; seat of the state government, which plays an outsized role in US environmental and immigration policy.

Northern Israeli city near Lebanese border; historic centre of Jewish Kabbalah mysticism.

French nuclear power plant on the Rhone, on EDF's summer heat-curtailment watch list.

Eastern Caribbean island state whose passport-sale scheme the EU wants closed by 2028.

Sakhalin-2 is a Russian liquefied natural gas and oil production project on Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East, operating under the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company. Japan is a primary off-take customer.

Russian naval-aviation airbase in occupied Crimea, a recurring target of Ukrainian long-range strikes.

Oman's second city and Arabian Sea port; struck by IRGC drones 19-20 April, hosting talks on an Iran-Oman Hormuz toll protocol.

Volga city and capital of Samara Oblast, whose refineries and oil hubs Ukraine strikes.